Hi - Just buying an 8...compression worries...
 

Hi guys,

Just a question for you about buying a cheap 8 to fix up and enjoy as a weekend toy hobby. I had a look at one yesterday – it’s a ’55 192 on 60k miles. It’s very cheap because it needs new brakes, tyres and exhaust plus a service and the bodywork needs some love. I just wanted to ask about hot starting;

Cold it started fine.
Hot is started fine also, but just took slightly longer. I noticed that it sounded like it had the uprated starter motor (much faster turn over). I’m just a little suspicious that its had that fitted to hide poor compression. It’s not had coils, sparks or leads for quite some time (no evidence of any of those ever being done actually). It did drive fine though. Bit of whine from the belt.

Without paying for a compression test (last one cost me £160 @ Mazda, and this car is only worth £1000), is there anything I can do to check it out a little better? I’m happy to do the normal service and garage work on it myself, but rebuilds are beyond my skills& facilities!

Should I go for it, run some seafoam / cleaner through it, give it a thrashing and cross my fingers?

My last 8 was a 231 (’54) on similar mileage and I never had any compression issues.

Please don’t flame me – I know I could pay for a compression test, but would rather save the money if I don’t need to do one. I had one done before at Mazda in order to sell on my 231 a few years back, it gave me good results but I wasn’t convinced that they’d actually done it properly to be honest.


Really appreciate any help :D


Tom

There are 4 different starters, each better than the prior one, and each still subject to failure over time. So "the upgraded starter" isn't really something you can determine without a starter model number off of the identification plate on the side of the starter itself (I doubt you crawled under there?), and is an unprofitable line of investigation anyway. The actual starter speed is more important than the model number. Additionally, I don't know what a '55 plate refers to, but a 2004 could easily have had it's starter fail at some point and needed to be replaced.

If you want to get an RX-8 with good compression, you are going to need to get a compression test to be sure that you meet your goal. If the actual compression doesn't matter to you and you just want a cheap car that has some life left in it, and are willing to take the risk that the engine is nearly dead, then no, you don't need a compression test.

All you can do if you do not want to pay for a compression test is look up the symptoms of low compression and test for them all, but even then you won't truly know. The answer to your question simply comes down to your tolerance for risk. Are you willing to risk 1,000 to save 160? No one can answer that question but you.

Personally, I would never buy an 8 without a compression test.

No compression test no sale, seems pretty simple? Plus, if your concerned about spending $160 your gonna have a bad time owning this car...

PPS- Dont buy the 193 HP auto version, it sucks. 230HP Manual or nothing.

I agree. I disregarded both of these statements and learned the hard way lol. Live and learn I guess